Angler's Notebook

by Jon Farley

illustration-Ted Walke

River catfishing with a live minnow, shiner, or crayfish is best when you present the bait on a slip bobber. Place
the line stop and bead on your line first, and then thread the slip bobber onto your line. Three small splitshot on the
line hold the bait down. Place the splitshot about 14 inches from the hook (size 4).

A common tactic for trout fishing is to drift baits through a creek's deep channels. Though the best presentation is
to have baits barely bouncing along the bottom, anglers often create unnatural drifts, with their baits simply dragging
across the bottom. One way to remedy this is to use stick-shaped bobbers. To do this, first attach one farther from the
weighted bait than necessary, and make a cast. The tip of the float should angle upstream. Little by little, slide the
float toward the bait and repeat the process until it remains perpendicular to the water's surface, yet quivers slightly
every time the bait bumps the stream bottom.

Panfish anglers generally need to use small hooks on small-mouthed fish, such as bluegills. Unfortunately, these
hooks are difficult to remove when lodged deeply in the mouth. To make this removal process easier, use long-shank
hooks. The longer shank gives you something to grab onto without sticking fingers or pliers in the fish's mouth.

Serious float tube fishermen often like to keep their tubes in their car trunks when they're not using them. Always
deflate the tube about halfway before doing this. Closed trunks get very hot and cause the air inside float tubes to
expand. A fully inflated tube could pop as a result of this heat expansion.

Does your boat trailer fishtail while underway? Fishtailing suggests that you need to increase your trailer's tongue
weight. To do this, move the winch stand a bit closer to the hitch.

Anglers using stockingfoot-style waders should know to stand on something other than the ground when initially
putting on their waders. Lugging a scrap of carpet around in your vehicle just to stand on can be a hassle. Instead,
simply use one of the floor mats from your car or truck to stand on when not wearing your waders' accompanying boots.
Just don't forget to put them back when you're finished!

An item fly anglers should carry, along with their myriad of other fly angling paraphernalia, is a small fish-tank
net. Any experienced fly fisherman knows how difficult it is to pick aquatic insects off the water's surface for
identification. A net, available at pet stores, makes this seemingly impossible task much easier.

When going after catfish, try using this free bait that's readily available on all rivers: Crayfish. Simply round up
a bucketful of crawdads before settling in for an evening of fishing for channel catfish. Use the whole crayfish or just
the tail. They're also nicer to handle than the messy, smelly "blood baits."

Hooked trout can be uncooperative when anglers attempt to remove hooks from their mouths. For whatever reason,
holding trout upside-down, with their bellies facing up, usually settles them, making the whole process less stressful
on both fish and fishermen.